An operating method of this type is disclosed, for example, in the international patent application having the publication number WO 99/56506. This publication describes the operation of a low-pressure discharge lamp using a circuit arrangement which has a half-bridge inverter having a load circuit connected to it in which the connections for the lamp are arranged. In order to detect the occurrence of the rectifier effect in the low-pressure discharge lamp, the voltage drop across the half-bridge capacitor is monitored and, when a predetermined upper limit value is exceeded or a predetermined lower limit value is undershot, a shutdown apparatus is activated for the half-bridge rectifier.